Northwest Iowa — While a Sheldon manufacturing firm recently announced a $16-million expansion, creating 52 new jobs over the next three years, a manufacturer in another area community has announced a major layoff of employees.
Thursday, Eaton Corporation announced plans to eliminate 70 jobs at their Spencer manufacturing facility. The Plant Manager says 23 employees will be laid off within the next 60 days, with the other 47 to be let go over the next year.
Contrast that with the announcement last week by Rosenboom Machine and Tool in Sheldon, of a $16-million dollar expansion to their Sheldon facility that is projected to create 54 new jobs over three years. Rosenboom management credits a good Iowa work ethic from the company’s employees for their continued success that has led to this latest expansion.
Eaton Corporation blames a continued market decline that began for them last year, for the company’s impending layoffs. Eaton opened the Spencer plant in 1974, and it was, at one time, Spencer’s largest employer.
